History Film / BattleOfTheBulge

Upon its release, the film was widely criticized by actual WW2 veterans for its many inaccuracies, most notably the former Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe: Dwight Eisenhower, who held a press conference to denounce the movie.

* ManOnFire: An American tanker during the first tank battle, as well as several Panzer crews during the climax.

* Foreshadowing

* ThatsAnOrder: During the climactic tank battle, Sergeant Guffy's tank loses its main gun. His commander tells him to get back to the assembly area. Guffy refuses, insisting that he can ram the German tanks. His commander again tells him to retreat, this time adding "That's an order!"

* OhCrap: Hessler when [[spoiler:he sees oil barrels rolling towards his burning tank.]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Hessler is a bloodthirsty warrior who is willing to toss his troops at the allies just to buy Nazi Germany a few extra months of existence but he refuses to cheat on his wife when the commanding general sends him a NS-Frauenschaft comfort woman on the night before the attack.

* EasyLogistics: The aversion is critical to the Allies' victory. Logistics are so tight on the German side that their battle plan is dependent on being able to salvage fuel from defeated enemy units. Between a large-scale, maneuver intensive open country battle that burns up most of their fuel reserves and Weaver successfully preventing Hessler from seizing the nearest supply depot, the German tank units run out of gas and have to abandon their vehicles.
** Also used as an example of what they are up against. Col. Hessler shows General Kohler something captured from an American position: a birthday cake, the wrapping paper showing it comes from Boston. General Kohler doesn't immediately appreciate the significance, so Col. Hessler points out that while Germany is struggling to merely feed and fuel its army practically within its own borders, the United States has the time and resources to worry about sending ''cake'' to individual soldiers halfway across the globe.

** Duquesne warning Lt. Weaver that the sign that says to go to Ambelove is really Malmedy.

** The stand-in vehicles for German Tiger Tanks are all American M47 Patton tanks, which were not produced until 1949

** Lt. Colonel Kiley's scout plane is a Cessna L-19 Bird Dog, which was not produced until 1949

** The bazookas used in the films are 1950s Spanish rocket launchers (the film was shot in Spain)

** Soldiers are shown reading playboy magazine, which was not published until 1953.

* TanksButNoTanks: Probably the most famous[[note]]Although not the worst offender. ''Film/{{Patton}}'' for example used the M48, which look even less like the Tiger II than the M47. Of course, ''Battle of the Bulge'' has many more glaring inaccuracies than just the tanks...[[/note]] cinematic example ''ever''. American M47 Patton tanks were used as stand-ins for German Panzer VI B Königstiger and M24 Chaffee tanks were called "Sherman M4" (while only ''two'' Chaffees saw battle in December 1944), let alone the wrong painting on the "Tigers".

** The German operation to send infiltrators behind American lines was also a lot more amateurish than portrayed. Few of the commandos spoke fluent English (let alone understood enough GI idioms to pass as one) and there was not enough time to ensure they were properly trained or equipped. They also had German armored vehicles disguised as American tanks (with green paint and a white star) such as a Panther disguised as a [=M10=] Tank Destroyer, which are nowhere to be seen.

* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: Hessler was based off Waffen-SS lieutenant colonel Joachim Peiper, who bore responsibility not just for the massacre of American prisoners at Malmedy, but also for hundreds of civilians in Italy and the Soviet Union. While the units he commanded had no problem torching villages and butchering civilians, his military record was middling at best, relying on costly frontal assaults to achieve his victories. He was also a committed Nazi, expressing disdain for Poles and Jews, and remained unrepentant after the war until his death. Modern neo-nazis and Wehrmacht fanboys, however, lionize him as a romantic and dashing war hero - a no-nonsense, hyper-competent commander with a code of honor, a [[AFatherToHisMen father to his men]], and fairly apolitical to boot. Hessler in the movie, while still a villain, leans heavily into the latter interpretation.

** The operation to send infiltrators behind American lines was also a lot more amateurish than portrayed. Few of the commandoes spoke fluent English (let alone understood enough GI idioms to pass as one) and there was not enough time to ensure they were properly trained or equipped.

** Tiger II tanks
*** TanksButNoTanks aside, the German armored vehicles are depicted as ''all'' being the famous Tiger II ''"Königstiger"''. [=Tiger II=]s were indeed famously part of the battle, but in no way did they make the bulk of German armor - they were too wide for the narrow roads and too heavy for the bridges, as RealLife ''Standartenführer'' Joachim Peiper (whose ''Kampfgruppe'' had about 40 of them) found out the hard way. Panzer [=IVs=] and Panthers were still used in large numbers, and they can't be seen anywhere in the film.

** AnachronismStew: Many examples, which include: